French-Russian partnership on hypersonic wide range ramjets - Status in 2001

The fruitful cooperation between Moscow Aviation Institute and AEROSPATIALE-MATRA-MISSILES goes on to prepare together a Wide Range Ramjet able to accelerate a reusable launcher at least from Mach 3 up to Mach 12. In cooperation with AEROSPATIALE-MATRA-MISSILES, the Moscow Aviation Institute is developing an experimental wide range dual-fuel, dual-mode ramjet. The considered engine has a fully variable internal geometry which gives it a priori a high performance level over the whole Mach number range. Technology development work led to the design and partial demonstration of materials and structures solutions to comply with the variable geometry requirements. Combustor tests have taken place for 6 years at Moscow Aviation Institute. These technologies should be definitively demonstrated thanks the test of a large scale Prototype in AEROSPATIALE-MATRA-MISSILES Subdray Center (connected pipe test up to Mach 7 - entrance of combustor 212x257 mm2). The status of this preparation is presented in the paper. After achievement of the manufacturing, the WRR Prototype is to be pre-tested under cold conditions at M.A.I. AEROSPACE. The computer codes allow to control the Prototype and in particular to optimize its contour in real-time during the test are achieved. This paper gives a synthesis and an overview of this common work, with consideration to all the aspects, from system studies up to technological work or contour control codes. Particular emphasis will be given in the present paper on Prototype tests (cold pre-testing results , measurement system) and on control codes definition and validation.